HR0350 101ST GENERAL ASSEMBLY

HR0350 LRB101 12083 MST 59607 r

HOUSE RESOLUTION

WHEREAS, The members of the Illinois House of Representatives are saddened to learn of the death of former Illinois State Representative and State Senator Don Totten, who passed away on April 2, 2019 at the age of 86; and

WHEREAS, Sen. Totten was born in Brooklyn, New York on April 30, 1945 and grew up in New Jersey; he earned a bachelor's degree in mechanical engineering from the University of Notre Dame; and

WHEREAS, Sen. Totten married his high school sweetheart Joyce Anderson, his wife of 63 years who preceded him in death last June; they began a life together that produced four children and grew to include seven grandchildren and one great-grandchild; and

WHEREAS, Their first daughter, Donna, died of leukemia at the age of 7; a longtime friend said this defining moment created Sen. Totten's remarkable affinity for people and his understanding of human suffering; and

WHEREAS, After he graduated from Notre Dame, Sen. Totten spent several years working as an engineer, but politics, informed by a love of the world's greatest thinkers stretching back to Ancient Greece, soon became central in his life; and

WHEREAS, Sen. Totten began his political career as a Schaumburg Township Republican Committeeman; in 1972, he was elected to the Illinois House of Representatives, where he served eight years; he then served two years in the Illinois Senate; and

WHEREAS, During his tenure, Sen. Totten served on the Appropriations, Transportation, and Revenue Committees, and was the chief sponsor of the Taxpayers Rights Amendment, a constitutional amendment to limit state taxes; and

WHEREAS, In 1976, Sen. Totten was the Illinois and Midwest campaign director for then-presidential candidate Ronald Reagan, trying to unseat incumbent Republican President Gerald Ford as part of the grassroots army that thought the Nixon-Ford Administration had strayed too far into big government and too close to the Soviet Union; and

WHEREAS, Sen. Totten remained loyal to Ronald Reagan, and, in 1980, after serving again as presidential candidate Reagan's Illinois and Midwest campaign director, Reagan won the Republican nomination and eventually the White House; Sen. Totten's dedication led him all the way to President-elect Ronald Reagan's transition team; he was later appointed by President Reagan to the International Joint Commission, a body that handles United States and Canadian affairs; and

WHEREAS, Sen. Totten was also chairman of the Cook County Republican Party; in 1982, he ran unsuccessfully, on the Republican side, for lieutenant governor, losing to the eventual governor, George Ryan; and

WHEREAS, Sen. Totten later founded and served as the national chairman for the American Legislative Exchange Council, a Washington-based organization of state lawmakers dedicated to the principles of limited government, free markets, and federalism; and

WHEREAS, Sen. Totten was also a member of the board of directors of the Illinois Conservative Union, former vice-chairman of the National Council of State Legislators, vice-president of the National Tax Limitation Committee, and chairman of the Illinois Tax Limitation Committee; and

WHEREAS, Sen. Totten also served as assistant to the director of the Department of Transportation for the State of Illinois and as president of a firm specializing in government relations, management, and political consulting; and

WHEREAS, Sen. Totten suffered for much of his life from Bell's palsy, a condition that made the left side of his face droop, and while he was not known as a natural public speaker, he was one of the greatest listeners in politics, always eager to hear other's stories; and

WHEREAS, Sen. Totten was a strong believer in America and welcoming newcomers to this country, helping to inculcate them in the principles of the American Declaration of Independence and the United States Constitution; he took great pleasure in helping people navigate the immigration and citizenship process; therefore, be it

RESOLVED, BY THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES OF THE ONE HUNDRED FIRST GENERAL ASSEMBLY OF THE STATE OF ILLINOIS, that we mourn the passing of former Illinois State Representative and State Senator Don Totten and extend our sincere condolences to his family, friends, and all who knew and loved him; and be it further

RESOLVED, That suitable copies of this resolution be presented to his sister, Barbara Hellenack, and his children, Kathy Weber, Diane Faldstein, and Robert Totten.